Pak-SL-SA tri series likely to fill void

Pakistan Cricket Board's efforts to compensate the postponement of Champions Trophy bore fruit as it has managed to rope in Sri Lanka for a triangular one-day series in South Africa tentatively scheduled to start from September 12.

Sources in the Pakistan board confirmed that Sri Lanka has given its consent to play in the tri-series while India has expressed its inability to be involved in a one-day tournament.

"Pakistan had approached some countries including India to support the board in organising a triangular or quadrangular tournament in South Africa to fill in the gap left open in Pakistan's cricket calender with the postponement of the Champions Trophy," one source said.

He said while India had expressed its regrets as it was already due to visit Pakistan for a full series in early January, Sri Lanka agreed to a one-day tournament.

"Now the modalities including venues and dates for the tri-series is being worked out but tentatively it should start from September 12," the source stated.

Former cricketers had lashed out at PCB for trying to hold the series in South Africa which refused to send its team to Pakistan leading to postponement of Champions Trophy.

But senior Board official Shafqat Naghmi said Pakistan could not afford to ignore or boycott the countries which refused to send teams to Pakistan.

"We are not going to adopt a tit for tat policy because the decision to postpone Champions Trophy was in the end unanimous. People don't realise that Pakistan has still got the hosting rights and it was because of strong stand taken by some boards that the tournament was not relocated to Sri Lanka," Naghmi said.